MOVIE REVIEW ASSIGNMENT

Name – Uditi Bhandari

Roll No. - PGFB2154
Section – B

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

Happiness is a weird feeling. You can’t measure how happy you are,
but you can feel it.
Even then, how many people achieve that content state? How many
can honestly say that they are content in their lives?
With increasing social media usage in our lives, we see people buying
luxury cars, huge homes and, traveling to exotic destinations. We
assume, “This is what Happiness looks like”.
The key to being happy according to me is knowing you can choose
what to accept and what to let go of. I honestly feel that happiness is
being present and finding joy in every moment.
Different people hold different opinions and points of interest from
which they derive happiness. Each one of us deserves to be happy in
our lives and we just need to figure out what makes us happy.

The movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness” is based on Chris Gardner’s

life, an American Businessman and founder of Gardner Rich & Co.,
the movie has a load of life lessons that are essential for everyone.

While watching the movie, I came across a very simple yet

meaningful dialogue that said, “Part of the solution, however, may
not lie in a product or a program, but simply in better
understanding.” It forced me to think that how we as humans
sometimes complicate simple things in life and as a result affect our
happiness.
“The pursuit of Happyness” is certainly a movie that makes one go
through a series of emotions. It leaves you with a keen sense of
assurance and hope. My experience of watching the movie was
indeed animating. It taught me to be grateful for the little things in
life as some are not even blessed with the same and to always
believe in yourself, no matter what. The film also gives a strong
message on how one can achieve anything in life if one puts their
heart and soul into it, nevertheless of the resources one possesses.
All one needs is a dream and immense belief to build that dream.
Chris was going through the worst part of his life, with having no
money for bills and rent and a dwindling marriage, he still did not
lose hope and courage.

In the movie, I related to Jay Twistle, the lead manager and partner
for Deam Writter Reynolds. Most of the people who have watched
this movie might not have observed him very sincerely but as per
me, I felt he was a very humble and kind man. He could have easily
ignored Chris given his poor state and qualifications but instead, he
chose to have faith in him and allowed him to intern with the
company. He never put him down because of his lack of education or
clothes and only judged him upon his abilities. I believe that
somehow, I have similar traits as him. I am a very kind person who
never judges a person from their clothes or the material things they
possess. I also related to Chris at certain points of the movie. For
instance, there was a scene where after securing an interview with
Dean writer to become an intern stockbroker, he was arrested for
unpaid parking tickets. After spending the night in jail, he had to
decide between showing up for the interview in his clothes which
were covered with paint, or not going at all.
After sucking up his pride, Chris shows up to the interview in
sweatpants. However, this does not stop him. He rises to the
challenge and presents his reason for candidacy with such strength,
determination and passion that his employers were forced to look
beyond his appearance. I strongly relate with him in this section of
the film as I believe one should always show up and never run away
from the circumstances.
When Gabriele Muccino, Director of the movie made this film, I feel
he wanted the audience to have faith in themselves and to always
run after their dreams. He wanted to convey that one does not need
resources to fulfill their dreams. All one needs is hard work and
perseverance.

With my generation of millennials, I see that we want everything

handed out to us and that everything should be easy to achieve. The
movie depicts that you must work for what you want to achieve, you
must make sacrifices. You are going to fail multiple times, but as long
as you keep pushing forward, you can make it happen. This movie
portrays with Chris is that of “Hard Work”. Despite the numerous
obstacles, Chris wanted a better life for himself and his son and was
willing to work beyond the multiple obstacles, for which, in the long
run, he was awarded.

If I was the director of the movie, I would have added the segment of
his life after he got selected among all the other interns. I felt that
the entire movie was based on struggles and nothing after he fulfilled
his aim. As the audience, I would have loved to watch the afterlife as
well. Also, one thing that I felt was unnecessary on Chris's part was
to take over his son from his wife given he was struggling to provide
necessities of life. In the movie, he was seen carrying around his
suitcase, the bone density scanner, and his son with him, which no
doubt proves him of an exceptional father but since his path was
extremely tough at that point, it would have been easier if he would
have left his son with his wife until he figured his career.

I came out as a different person once I completed watching the

movie. The movie strongly conveys that one should not listen to
anyone but himself. Too often, I find myself concentrating on other's
judgment more than trusting my instinct. A dialect from the movie
where Chris says “Don’t ever listen to somebody telling you that you
can’t do something, not even me. You got a dream, you got to
protect it.”
I also realized the importance of being grateful and understood that
setbacks are a part of the journey, and one should never give up.
The biggest lesson, however, was that never be embarrassed or
ashamed of your hustle.

The picture depicted both good and bad instances of humanity.

There was an incident in the movie where Chris trusts his scanner
with a hippie girl, and she runs away with it. This shows two sides of
humanity. His colleagues were very kind towards him irrespective of
their positions and status which again showed a positive side of
humanity.
While watching the movie, I witnessed a very strange thing about the
man-woman relationship. I felt that most of the time when it’s about
love, money does come in between. For instance, Chris’s wife left
him because he was struggling in his career.

The instance that touched my heart was When Chris’s son tell him
“You’re a good papa.” It was a very intense and surreal moment as
the child instead of cribbing about the odds they were facing was
appreciating his father. Sometimes, phrases like, “I am proud of you”
or “I believe in you” can go a long way with a human who is trying to
do his best.
An instance that broke my heart was when Chris and the baby were
thrown out of their house, then from the motel and they had to
sleep in the washroom of a metro station. That scene made me
emotional and made me feel extremely blessed.

If my grandfather or grandmother would have watched this film,

they would have related to it far better as they built their life from
scratch while we as a generation are privileged to some extent.

Overall,
The movie left a deep impact on me. It taught me to face the
difficulties with a smile and to not run away from one responsibility
to pursue another. Also, it made me realize that knowledge is not
restricted to high school possession. It is your curiosity that enhances
your knowledge. The movie depicted the importance of hard work
and positivity and that shall always stay with me.